Mayor declares state of emergency due to migrant surge in El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening following a surge of migrants who have recently arrived in the community and he says are living in unsafe conditions, Report informs via CNN.

The mayor, who had previously declined to issue a state of emergency, said “hundreds” of migrants are on the streets in unsafe conditions while temperatures are beginning to drop, and things could get much worse when a Trump-era border policy is lifted Wednesday, which federal officials expect will lead to an increase in migrant arrivals.

“We know that the influx on Wednesday will be incredible,” the mayor said in a news conference, adding later some officials have estimated the number of arriving migrants could more than double after December 21.

Considering all those factors, “we felt it was a proper time today to call a state of emergency,” he added.

Earlier this week, a senior Border Patrol official said more than 2,400 migrants crossed into the US near El Paso daily over the weekend, describing the number as a “major surge in illegal crossings” in the area.

While those numbers climb and the region’s resources are already severely strained, Wednesday will also mark the court-ordered end of Title 42, a policy which has, since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, allowed officials to turn away migrants encountered at the southern border.

El Paso’s mayor said he previously did not call an emergency because local leaders and other partners had been able to respond to the arrivals, but, he added, it is no longer the case.